Najib's daughter calls IRB's assesment in RM10.3m tax suit 'inaccurate', 'unlawful'

Nooryana Najwa Najib has decried the assessment by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) in the RM10.3 million tax suit against her as 'inaccurate 'and 'unlawful'.

The daughter of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak said this in her statement of defence against the government’s RM10.3 million tax suit against her which was made available to Malaysiakini today.

Her statement of defence was filed by law firm Messrs Shafee & Co at the Shah Alam High Court Registry on Oct 24.

“The defendant avers that the additional tax assessments for the assessment year of 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 for the respective sum of RM2,430,694.74; RM26,613.24; RM6,011,957.64; RM271,832.92; RM48,526.98; RM137,595.31; and RM21,084.39, raised on the defendant via Notice of Additional Assessments (Form JA) for the assessment years 2011 to 2017 dated March 15, 2019, are inaccurate and unlawful assessments,” Nooryana said in the statement.

(The above-mentioned figures for tax assessment years 2011 to 2017 do not include penalties levied by IRB against her for non-payment).

She said upon receiving the Form JA on March 18, she felt dissatisfied with the additional assessments and had then submitted her notice of appeals via Form Q and her grounds of appeal to the IRB on April 12.

Nooryana vehemently denied the RM10,335,292.36 (inclusive of penalties) sought by the government against her as well as the increase in interest raised against her.

“The defendant also denies that the amount claimed by the plaintiff is properly assessed by the plaintiff and that the 10 percent and 5.0 percent penalties raised on the defendant (which brought the final tax figure sought to RM10.3 million) are unreasonable,” she said, reiterating that the amount sought is “inaccurate and incorrect”.

Among the examples she cited to back her allegation of inaccurate tax-assessment was for the assessment year 2011, where she claimed there were factual errors as the inward fund remittance of US$2 million (RM6,380,000) from overseas into the joint CIMB current account in her and her husband’s name, did not belong to her but her husband.

She said that the funds were derived from overseas and therefore, could not be construed as income under the Income Tax Act 1967.

She alleged that the 2011 tax-assessment was not accurate because her personal expenditure for that whole year was approximately RM48,000 and not the figure of RM120,000 arrived at by IRB.

Nooryana further claimed that the tax-assessment for 2011 was inaccurate due because the other expenses/unexplained expenses of RM4,124,732 were withdrawal transaction from her bank current account and that said sum is not an income as defined by the plaintiff.

The defendant also alleged that the issuance of the notice of additional assessments for the assessment year 2011 against her was made beyond the statutory limitation period as laid under Section 91 (1) of the Income Tax Act.

“Taking into account the above adjustment, the defendant avers that there is no shortfall of reported income. The investment income is merely RM13,417 with an estimated additional tax liability of nil.

“The defendant avers that the additional tax liability of RM2,430,694.74 claimed by the plaintiff should be nil. Be that as it may, the additional tax is subjected to the time-bar period under Section 90 (1) of the Income Tax Act 1967,” she claimed in relation to the assessed tax for 2011.

“Wherefore, the defendant avers that the plaintiff’s claim is wholly misconceived and without merit, and pray that it be dismissed with costs,” the final paragraph of Nooryana’s statement of defence stated.

On Aug 26, it was reported that IRB is seeking RM10.3 million in unpaid income taxes from Nooryana.

The IRB on July 24 filed a writ of summons against Nooryana at the Shah Alam High Court.

The statement of claim alleged that Nooryana failed to declare her individual income under Section 77 of the Income Tax Act 1967 for the years of 2011 until 2017.

It added that if Nooryana failed to pay the sum within 30 days from the notice, an additional penalty of 10 percent would be imposed and another five percent in the subsequent 60 days.

The amount the IRB is seeking is RM2,807,452.42 for 2011, RM30,738.28 for 2012, RM6,943,811.07 for 2013, RM313,967.02 for 2014, RM56,048.65 for 2015, RM158,922.46 for 2016 and RM24,352.46 for 2017.

This brings the total to RM10,335,292.36.

Besides Nooryana, IRB had also filed tax suits of RM1.69 billion, RM37.6 million, and RM13.1 million against her father Najib, as well as her brothers, Mohd Nazifuddin and Mohamad Nizar, respectively. - Mkini